The BABA Dugout: Bay Area Baseball Association Blog

I have to give credit where credit is due for this post. These tips come from an email sent by my husband, Pat Farrell, to a manager who was taking his first team to Big League Dreams. Coach Pat managed a team for four years, and we played at BLD more than any other field.

For Big League Dreams

• Pitchers should bring some type of regular athletic shoe for pitching. They do not allow metal spikes on the mounds (portable), and regular spikes are not the best thing to wear on the mounds.
• The infield is synthetic, and sliding into second and third is much different at BLD. The players should take a practice slide or two before the first game.
• The ball gets a very true bounce on a throw-down from the catcher, so stealing can be a little more difficult.
• The ball gets through the infield very quickly, so the players may want to play a little farther back than normal since they will have a little more time.
• It is very hard to judge how deep the outfielders are, and the outfields are big, so the outfielders need to pay attention to where they are.
• The outfields are grass and run a little downhill, so a hard-hit line drive can easily roll all the way to the wall.
• The ball really bounces back off the concrete curb on the back stop, so it can be difficult to score on a passed ball from third.
• In the past, home plate area can be a bit dug up and rough from the adult softball leagues, so players should be careful sliding home. I always inspected it before games to see how it was and advised the players accordingly.
• The bases and mound are not always set at the correct distance between games, especially when other ages just played. I always measured the distance from home to rubber and base to base and move the bases and mound accordingly, if necessary. Some coaches call maintenance to make the adjustments, but I always thought it was easier to just move them myself. (The mound is portable, but it is not one of those tiny ones; you might need two people to move it.)

  Note from BABA: Appropriate field distances are posted on the BABA website.

The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not necessarily represent Bay Area Baseball Association’s opinion or position.

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